HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to

CHAY CHAY

This year Chay gave me options for a cake...a Sprite can, a sneaker or an Ipod.

Sneakers and an Ipod are two of his favorite things that he is never without, so I decided on a sneaker. I didn't want to do a PAIR because that would just be TWICE the work...

I didn't put the actually sneaker in any of the pictures because that would just give a reference point...and who really needs that?

Whenever we go shopping, Chay looks for sneakers and if he could, he would a buy a pair ever time.

No Spring Break this week and so Chay was at school for his birthday. When Dave got home from work we took pictures with the cake, and then went out to eat. Chay really liked his free burger when we went to Red Robin last week and decided that he wanted to go there again. It was a good meal but somehow it seemed so much better with the free meals...

What made me happy is that we actually ordered more fries with the "bottomless steak fries" that came with some of the meals. "Bottomless" food offers are a private joke with me because the kids get excited when they see that IHOP (remember in the olden days when it was The International House of Pancakes? Not such a cool looking name.) has an ad for an "endless" stack of pancakes (they love pancakes) and the one time we went for that, NONE of them ordered meals with pancakes...go figure.

Such a happy birthday boy.

What looked cool in reality was that you could read "Chay" on Chay's chest from the shadow's of the candles. You can kind of see it.

Chay making his Birthday Wish.

(serious business)

Chay's reaction when Blade blew out his birthday candles.

With a younger sibling, it's almost impossible to blow out your own candles.

(This time the delay between pushing the button and the time a picture actually took worked out well and I captured Chay's expression)

Chay's card from Grandma (and Grandpa) arrived in time and Chay was not disappointed when he looked behind the picture.

Grandpa actually called himself and wished Chay a Happy Birthday. When Chay answered the phone and realized it was Grandpa he smiled at Nicole and made some kind of verbal sound (equivalent to the meaning of Na Na --Na Na Na). Grandma wished Chay a Happy Birthday later.

This was all in response to Nicole's comment last week after Grandpa called Blade for his birthday and Nicole said "I think Blade is Grandpa's favorite...he hasn't called anyone else on their birthdays".

Wow, 14 years old. In Canada he would be old enough to get a Learner's Permit, and he likes that idea! What are the requirements to take that test other than being a 14 year old Canadian?

Chay would like to know because, we care coming up there in June.

Chay gave me a big long hug at the end of the day and I felt so small (not use to that feeling) as my little Chay Chay is many inches taller than me.

He's growing up nicely. Straight A student, funny, pretty laid back, helpful, a style sense I agree with, nice hair....

How was your Easter?

We had a relaxing one as we waited until Dave got home from work and so preparing Easter supper was not a hassle as we had a lot of time after Church (and it was easy - warm up a Costco ham, funeral potatoes, corn, open a bag of Costco salad).

We tried a different kind of Easter Egg Hunt this year.

It seemed like too much work to find places to hide specific eggs for each child in challenge appropriate places and so the kids were blindfolded and eggs placed on the main floor within arms length when they were on their hands and knees. They had to be on their hands and knees because it would just be toooooo dangerous if they WEREN'T.

(it's not her butt crack)

Chay and Nicole were on their bellies army style for a while at the beginning. Numerous times Nicole was paralyzed with laughter, like in the picture above. Chay said that it was amazing how large the house seemed when he was blindfolded. I'm thinking that in the future, I will blindfold everyone that comes to the house. Chay thinks that Dave and I should be blindfolded and crawl around the house so we can feel how big it feels...I'm thinking...NO.

AND I did relate the hunt to the reason we celebrate Easter.

When Jesus died, there were three days of darkness, hence the blindfolds.

Things were disastrous, wicked people died and loved ones were scattered. Their jobs were to find their loved ones, eggs.

There was a lot of laughter and immediately afterwards, Blade wanted to do it again. I think that we'll be doing this type of Easter Egg hunt from now on.

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY

BLADE!!!!

My little boy is already 6 years old....where has the time gone?

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was pregnant with Blade and talking to Doug in the morning wishing him a Happy Birthday and saying "I guess I won't be having my baby on your birthday". And then hours later I was telling a friend, "Can you take care of my patient?...my water just broke".

I did NOT make Blade's cake this year. I took the easy way out. Blade wanted another dinosaur cake and I was looking online for a particular dinosaur that I had seen last year and discovered that it was discontinued and the cheapest price was $25 plus s&h (I hate s&h...). Well, a month ago, Blade and I were at a local grocery store and saw the dinosaur on display at the bakery! (Excitement on my part! And I suggested that we just order the cake from the bakery)

But wait, it gets even better....

When I went to pay for the cake, it was only $20 plus tax! CHEAPER than if I had ordered the piece and decorated the cake myself (and I still have the dinosaur to use on another cake, when I actually put together a party for Blade after Spring Break sometime).

The dinosaur is motion activated and pops out alittle, opens it's mouth and roars while it's eyes flash red...the flashing red eyes are Blade's favorite part.

The first time it activated, Blade was surprised and then he couldn't get enough of it. It was a pure joy to watch this boy playing with his dinosaur...the cake was a hit!

When Nicole got home from school, she walked past the cake and when she heard the roar, she was more startled than Blade was... I believe in one motion she stopped, dropped her jaw and turned.

The boys are on Spring Break right now and while we waited for Nicole to get home from school so we could do the "cake thing", Blade, Chay and I went to Red Robin so that they could get their free birthday meals (with their birthdays only 1 week apart, their coupons overlap). The trip only cost us 2 drinks and a tip.

( I was surprised and pleased that for the side order that came with the kid's meal, Blade chose melon slices...I was, and am, a french fry type of girl...and it shows...)

As a family we went to the Clark Planetarium at Gateway and watched "Born to be Wild" in 3D. It was about orphan elephants in Kenya and orangutans in Indonesia. I really enjoyed the film and was educated.

Nicole and Dave played around lighting up different watts of light.

Nicole took special interest in the swinging pendulum moving as the earth rotates and knocks over metal pegs. In this picture the peg just got knocked over. When we walked by the first time, she stated "that'll take hours". I responded, "No, it'll take about 2-3 minutes". And....what happened 2-3 minutes later? We heard a "ping".... Again, Nicole in one motion, stopped, dropped her jaw and turned.

Blade loves this "game". It's a donation thing but the first time we used it, Chay made it like a game to see whose coin (okay, penny) would take the longest to drop in, and now Blade thinks it's a game and always has to "play" it.

We spent the evening watching a couple of movies at home, relaxing as a family. It was a nice day.

The morning started out perfectly when Blade, who was sleeping in my bed because Dave was working nights, woke up, looked at me and said with a smile on his face AND in his voice, "Today's my birthday". It was the cutest thing.

Grandma's card arrived on Monday, in time as always and not only did Grandma call to wish Blade a happy birthday but, Grandpa himself called in the evening to wish Blade a happy birthday!

The evening ended perfectly when I asked Blade what the best part of the day was and he listed one by one everything we did today. The sweetest thing ever.... and I couldn't hug by birthday boy enough.

Earlier in the month I attempted to bake sugar cookies in our temperature challenged oven and they surprisingly turned out. So we baked and decorated cookies two days in a row.

Now, Chay tells me we need to do the Ukrainian eggs... we're running out of time. Maybe Saturday...

Deja Vu...(Visiting Elder Neilson) and I Love You

He's OKAY!

Elder Craig Neilson recovered amazingly from General Anesthesia.

Dave and I drove quickly but, safely down to Provo to see Craig in recovery at the Surgical Center before the MTC van took him away. Martha, the nurse, was very kind and I know she kept him there until we arrived because when I saw Craig, he was alert and talking (met the requirements I have for discharge).

Okay, the next picture doesn't look like he's so alert but...

He had received some pain medication shortly before we arrived but he didn't remember any of that. The left side of his face is alittle droopy because of the block he received to numb his left shoulder (face, arm, hand...)

Shhhh, don't tell...

I called Sharon and let Craig talk to her and Darren so that they could rest assured that Craig was doing well. I'm sure all of this is fine under these circumstances...I've concluded that after the "Brent incident".

Craig's little piece of Heaven.

The cooler looking thing on the floor has ice in it and circulating water that keeps cool/cold water flowing through the pad that is wrapped on Craig's shoulder.

Craig had a companion with him while at the Surgical Center, not his regular companion but one from his District. I've read and heard that Craig has had a Hawaiian companion and also one from Tonga. I wasn't too surprised to hear that because while in recovery, Craig was talking with an accent and it was kind of Islandish. He was FUNNY too! It could have been the drugs but whatever it was, I thought he was funny.

Good Bye again...

I have more to blog on another topic but again, technical difficulties are preventing me from doing that now. AND I'm sure they are "technical" difficulties.

I problem solved and got the pictures I needed!

I had forgotten to blog Brent's final send off.

Brent had a follow up appointment with his surgeon and it was impressive walking into the office building (business is good...). I made Nicole and Brent stop for a picture because I wanted family to feel like they were there.

The wait was not long and the visit was almost as short, and Brent passed the test and was on his way back to the MTC...after stopping for lunch of course.

Checking in at the front desk.

Brent and the MTC President just before the final departure.

They take things very seriously there...that's all I'm saying.

Nicole and Chay both had their phone contracts end about the same time and were up for free updated phones. Here they are playing with their new toys AND very pleased with them.

Over Conference weekend, Calvin's (my cousin) and Trish's daughter Cleah and her boyfriend were guests of ours. We didn't see them too much as they kept busy doing things around the area but, we did get to visit with them a little bit and enjoyed getting to know Cleah better and meeting Carlos.

I treated them like family while they were here and just left them fend for themselves.

Between Conference Sessions on Sunday we played Dutch Blitz and for me, it was intense playing. I started the second game but had to drop out when the intenseness had me rushing to the bathroom...

So, we know that Brent is the whiz (no pun intended) in Sharon's family, Chay seems to be the quick one in my family, and heard that Calvin is the one to beat in the other Takahashi family (although Cleah is up there with the top). We'll be practising Dutch Blitz at my place so this summer when we come up, we'll be ready!

Cleah came with her boyfriend Carlos but she left Salt Lake City with her FIANCE Carlos!

The status change occurred on Friday.